Tax – to pay or not? Dear friends, Jesus famously once got into a row about taxes. The Roman Empire paid for itself by imposing levies upon the lands it conquered, arousing no little ire in the conquered peoples who were possibly less enthusiastic about the Roman empire than the Romans themselves. Some Jewish leaders, fed up with Jesus’ popularity with the…
Office space required Dear friends The Team Ministry is looking for an office space! After over twenty years at The Grove, Stoke Row, and with thanks to the kindness and hospitality of the Robin family, the property is now being sold, and we need to find a new home. The Team office is the place of work for Mary Daniels, our part…
Pray your part Dear friends, When it comes to election season, most of us have a fairly limited tolerance of the media’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of political introversion. “Never mind about the nation’s toenails,” we cry at the radio, “ask why the legs are missing!” Its an important season in which we have an opportunity to not just think about the big…
Normandy 2024 Dear friends, There is a little patch of Normandy in Checkendon churchyard. Lt William Temple was among the very first to land in France, coming from the sky with the 7th Battalion (Light Infantry) of the Parachute Regiment, on the night of the 5th/6th June 1944, part of the 6th Airborne Division. He was a platoon commander, (No1 Platoon, A…
In the blood Dear friends, It is something we all take for granted – that our blood flows. Yet when we are cut, if all is working as it should, it clots as cells knit themselves together on exposure to oxygen. But day by day, as we breathe, our blood nevertheless carries this same oxygen round our vital organs and, wonderfully, removes…
Tongues of Fire Dear friends, A few days ago the earth was bathed in glory. A (22 years) rare solar storm sent great arcs of fire in the form of solar flares far out from the surface of our sun, and the associated bursts of high energy atomic particles, after a couple of days in transit, reached the earth. These particles, funnelled…
A Head for Heights Dear friends How are you with high places? The Shard in London is not for the faint-hearted; if you dare to look down you can see the roof structures and patterns of Southwark Cathedral laid out beneath you as if returned to the 2D of an architect’s plan. However, for most, the interest and detail of the all…
Back to the Zoo Dear friends On the south side of Berlin’s famous Tiergarten park is the grand modern building that is the home base of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, a fitting cultural powerhouse for a global city. Walking around this open concourse, however, will bring you upon a memorial to one of the lesser known atrocities of the Nazi regime. “Tiergartenstrasse…
Faith found by feeling Dear friends, A chance conversation with a young adult visitor before a busy baptism service gave me one of those “window” moments on Sunday. This is when you suddenly become aware that you are looking through what is normally opaque, and something is revealed, either outside, or inside. In this case, it was how someone felt about their…
The Thief in the Daytime Dear friends, One Saturday in the hot summer of 1976, my parents took my sister and I to visit an elderly great aunt in Eastbourne. It was about an hour’s drive, and, for young teenagers, these outings were always very tedious. Aunt Gert lived out of town, which meant we never got near the “seaside” proper. However…